I'll Swim With You
by JaminJazzi
Summary: Even though her passion wasn't swimming she still supported her two best friends through it all. Kei has known Haru and Makoto for as long as she can remember, but their differences in passions never bothered the trio. As they continue to support one another in their endeavours, Kei continues to keep some thoughts at bay because she always puts others before herself.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Good morning Kei!" I looked over my shoulder and saw the familiar brunette running up the stairs towards me.

"Good morning Makoto." I greeted as he towered above me.

"Did he not answer the door?" He questioned. I sighed as my shoulders slumped.

"Of course not. Should we go inside?" He let out a small laugh as his head slightly titled to the right.

"I don't think we have a choice." So the two of us walked around our childhood friends house until we reached the familiar back door. The brunette opened up the door and took a step inside as he said, "Excuse me."

"Do you think he's in the tub again?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if he was." As we walked towards the familiar bathroom and opened the door Makoto warned Haru of our presence. Haru pushed himself out of the water and shook his head. His black hair moved form side to side – spraying water around him. Makoto walked towards him and leaned forward, lending his hand, as he said, "Good morning, Haru-chan." Haru sighed and reluctantly took his hand.

"I told you to lay off the –chan." As Haru stood up out of the bathtub we saw that he was wearing his familiar black and purple bathing suit.

"You were in the bath with your swimsuit on again?" Makoto asked.

"Usually people are naked in the bath, Haru, not wearing their swimsuit." I commented as I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the door.

"Buzz off you two. You're going to be late." Haru commented as he stepped out of the bath. Makoto sighed.

"That's my line."

"Can you just get changed quickly, so we can leave?" I asked Haru as he walked past me.

"I need to do something first." He said as he walked towards the kitchen. We followed him and I raised my hand and slapped it onto my forehead when I saw Haru put on his apron.

"I can't believe he's going to do it." I groaned as Haru placed the piece of fish on his pan.

"Wait, why are you grilling fish?" Makoto asked as he stood beside Haru.

"I haven't had breakfast." He answered.

"And you're wearing an apron over a swimsuit. Aren't you cold?"

"I don't want to get oil on my swimsuit." Haru stated. A _bing_ came form the toaster and a golden piece of toast was peeking out of the top of the toaster.

"I didn't even see him put that in." I whispered to myself.

"Toast and fish?" Makoto questioned Haru's choice of breakfast.

"That's an odd combination." I commented.

"You should try it. It's a good choice." Haru said. I sighed at his words.

"Toast and fish definitely do not go together." Makoto said. Haru didn't comment on his statement and continued to grill his fish.

* * *

"So why did you two come and get me?" Haru asked Makoto and myself. I walked in-between the two boys as the three of us made our way to school.

"You didn't show up for the opening assembly yesterday." Makoto answered.

"And we wanted to make sure you didn't not go to school today." I added.

"I called in sick yesterday." Haru said.

"Do you know what class you're in then?" The brunette questioned. Haru didn't answer the question, so I decided to answer it for him,

"We're in the same class again, Class 1."

"It's like the three musketeers, right?" Makoto smiled at the two of us. I smiled back at him as Haru continued to look forward.

"Most definitely."

"We've got a new lady as our homeroom teacher. They already gave her a nickname." Makoto said.

"She teaches classical literature, right?" I questioned.

"Yup, but she's also a little on the odd side, isn't she?" He asked me.

"Just a little bit. I found it kind of funny when she realized that I'm a girl with a boy's name." I laughed.

"Or when she realized I'm a guy with a girl's name." Makoto laughed. The brunette moved his head in Haru's direction. I looked over and saw the black haired boy staring at the sea longingly. "I hope it gets warmer soon, so you can swim."

"We can all go swimming together when it warms up, huh?" I suggested to the two boys. Haru looked at his two closest friends with a bored look before turning his head and staring off into the blueness that the sea held. I looked up at Makoto and shrugged my shoulders as the three of us continued to walk.

* * *

"Come on Haru." I pleaded with him. He only sighed and avoided my gaze as he looked out of the window. I moved myself and stood behind him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned my head on his shoulder. "Come to the roof with us, Haru."

"Can you let go of me?" Haru asked me. I shook my head.

"Not unless you come to the roof with us." Haru let out a sigh of defeat as he began to stand up out of his chair. I let go of him and smiled at Makoto. "All we needed was some of my magic touch." I commented as the three of us left the classroom. As we walked down the stairs Haru finally spoke.

"I didn't bring any lunch." He admitted.

"Then go buy some? Or you can have some of this?" Makoto suggested as he showed Haru his lunch.

"It's weird how my mom knows everything." I sighed. The two gave me a quizzical look as I lifted up a lunch box for Haru. "She had a feeling you'd forget your lunch, so she made you one." Haru took the box and opened the lid to find grilled mackerel and rice.

"Haru-chan! Mako-chan! Kei-chan! It's been forever!" The three of us looked down the stairs and saw a blonde waving at the three of us with a smile. "I'll be joining you here at Iwatobi High School." The three of us exchanged glances.

"Mako-chan?"

"Haru-chan?"

"Kei-chan?" It was then that all three of us clued in on who it was standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"Nagisa?" He only gave us his all to familiar smile.

"The one and only! Where are you guys going? Can I tag along?" He asked.

"We-We were just going to the roof to eat." I said lightly.

"Alright then! What're we waiting for?"

* * *

"How many years has it been?" Makoto questioned. "I don't think I saw you after the swimming club got shut down."

"Yup, because I went to a different school. There are cherry blossoms near the pool! Weren't there cherry blossom trees next to the pool at your grade school, Haru-chan?" Nagisa asked.

"Can you stop calling me that?" Haru asked Nagisa.

"I don't know why you're asking, you know he's not going to stop." I commented.

"But that's your name, Haru-chan." Nagisa completely ignored my comment.

"But that pool is old and not in use. There's no swim club, either." Makoto changed the direction of the conversation back to the pool in front of us. As the four of us leaned up against the railing we stared off at the pool.

"Where do you swim then?" Nagisa asked.

"I quit swimming competitively." Haru answered.

"What? Why'd you quit?" Nagisa inquired. "I was getting all excited to swim with you again in high school!"

"We're not little kids anymore. Things aren't the way they used to be." Haru stated.

"Haru-chan…"

"Well he stopped swimming competitively, but he still loves the water. Haru can't live without being in the water. During the summer he swims in the ocean, and he was soaking in the bathtub this morning."

"Well in the winter he _only_ soaks in the bathtub, isn't that right, Haru?" I smiled over to him, but he just gave me his blank expression before looking away again.

"But what does that have to do with swimming? That just means he likes baths. I know! How about a hot springs club? Let's start a hot springs club!" Nagisa grabbed onto Haru's blazer.

"I don't like the heat." Haru answered.

"Don't be like that!"

"No."

"Okay, then…"

"I refuse."

"I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to for me to refuse."

"Ah! Kei-chan! Can you convince him?" Nagisa looked over at me.

"Haru's stubborn, I thought you would've known that by now." I sighed.

"Ah! Not fair! Please, Haru-chan!"

"No." I just laughed at the pair as Nagisa continued to pester Haru with questions and Haru continued to brush him off.

"Things really haven't changed." I muttered to myself. "Well come on you three! Lunch is almost over, so we should start heading back." I pointed out to the three boys in front of me.

"Do we have to?" Nagisa complained.

"Yes we do, now come on." I began to push the three in front of me towards the stairs. On our way down Nagisa stopped and looked at the three of us.

"Did you guys hear? The swimming club we went to in grade school is going to be torn down. I felt Haru's back straighten a little extra beside me as he heard the news. I glanced in his direction and saw the slightest difference in his expression. "So before that happens, why don't we pay a visit?"

"To dig that up?" Makoto questioned. Haru began to walk down the stairs.

"Exactly!" Nagisa exclaimed. "We can sneak in at night…"

"You can go by yourself." Haru said. Nagisa turned to face his friend.

"Don't say that! Come with us, Haru-chan!"

"I'm not going." Haru turned away from Nagisa.

"Don't you think it'll be fun?" Nagisa questioned.

"I don't."

"Why don't you just humour him?" Makoto asked.

"No, it's too much effort."

"I think you should go." The three looked up at me with surprised faces. "That place means a lot to all of you for different reasons, so you should all go. Also, you should go dig that up, right, Haru?" His eyes softened for only a moment before he sighed.

"Fine, I'll go."

"Ah, thank you Kei-chan!" Nagisa exclaimed.

"I didn't do anything." I laughed as I held my hands up.

"You could always convince Haru-chan to do anything! Thank you! Now we can all go!" Nagisa yelled as he bolted down the stairs in excitement.

"I can't convince him to do anything though." I muttered to myself as I followed the other boys down the stairs.

* * *

**So what do we think? We like the first chapter? Ya? Ya? Well leave me a review or a PM and tell me what you think! **

**-xoxo JaminJazzi**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"I can't believe you guys saw him! How is he?" I asked the two boys in front of me. Haru was lying on the grass as he began to sleep. Makoto and Nagisa, however, were fully awake and retelling me their adventures from last night.

"He's completely different now! He's not the same Rin-chan!" Nagisa complained. I raised an eyebrow at the information.

"Are you sure?"

"He was so mean and scary! Kei-chan you would've been shocked if you saw him!" Nagisa raised his voice.

"It was, a dream?" I looked over at Haru to see that he had finally woken up.

"No, it wasn't a dream!" Makoto yelled.

"I don't get it though. Rin-chan was really weird." Nagisa said.

"Look-a-like." Haru stated.

"Why would a look-a-like challenge you to a race?" Makoto asked.

"A ghost, then." Haru stated.

"He wasn't floating." Nagisa pointed out.

"Doppelganger." Haru added.

"Oh, that takes me back! We used to do that at the swimming club! Super Fusion: Doppel-"

"But if he's so different now, maybe something happened while he was overseas." I pointed out to the three boys.

"But what could've been so terrible that would change him so much?" Nagisa asked me.

"Can you guys be quiet?" Haru asked as he turned on his side to try and go back to sleep.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Makoto stood up and yelled at us.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"It's okay Makoto, calm down." I raised my hand towards him.

"Hey!" Haru turned over and sat up to look at the brunette. "Don't you remember, Haru?"

"No."

"What? Why not?"

"Must be a generation gap." Nagisa laughed at the two.

"I'm only one year older than you! And Haru and Kei are the same age as me! I won't get anywhere with you guys." Nagisa continued to laugh at the brunette and I joined in afterwards.

"You take everything too seriously, Makoto. Sit down and relax." I said.

"This is no time for relaxing!" I stood up and got on my tippy-toes. My arm wrapped around Makoto's neck, so I could begin to pull him down to the ground.

"Come on, Makoto! Just enjoy your lunch, will you?"

"Kei! Shouldn't you be on my side?" I laughed as I continued to pull him down.

"Not today because you're fretting over something that you should just let be." I pointed out.

"But Kei!"

"No, now come one." I gave him one last tug before he finally sat down on the ground.

"Wow, Kei-chan! You've gotten stronger!" Nagisa remarked.

"I've been working out a bit." I said proudly as I flexed my arm muscles. He poke my muscle before looking at me.

"They're pretty small…"

"What do you mean they're pretty small?" I questioned.

"They're not that big…"

"But they're good for a girl! I'm not a body builder!" I yelled.

"They could be bigger though…"

"What?"

"I thought you wanted to relax, Kei?" Makoto asked me. I groaned out of frustration as I lied down on my back.

"I can't win with you guys!"

* * *

"Haru!" I called out his name as I entered his house. I walked down the familiar hallway and towards the bathroom. Haru sat in his bathtub as he stared at the water. "Oh Haru."

"What do you want, Kei?" Haru asked me.

"My family was wondering if you wanted to come and join us for dinner."

"No." He sunk a little lower into the water.

"Are you sure? My mom is making fish."

"No." He sunk a little bit lower.

"They really want to see you." I sighed. The doorbell rang and Haru placed his head under the water. I let out a sigh as I turned around from him. "I guess I'll go see who it is." I walked down the hallway and towards the front door. Once I opened it Makoto and Nagisa looked at me with surprised faces.

"Kei?" Makoto questioned.

"What are you doing in Haru-chan's house?" Nagisa pushed in front of Makoto.

"I came to ask him a question." I answered.

"What kind of question? Was it a 'date' question?"

"What?"

"Did you ask him out on a date? Are you two secretly dating?" Nagisa inquired. I felt my cheeks begin to redden as the blonde pushed his face closer to mine out of intimidation.

"What? No! I was asking him if he wanted to come over to dinner!" I yelled at him. Nagisa backed away from me and sighed out of satisfaction.

"Oh, okay. So he's inside?" Nagisa asked.

"Yes, yes, come on in." I allowed the duo to walk inside the house. "You know where he'll be. I'm going to get going."

"Why don't you come with us?" Nagisa asked me.

"Huh?"

"We're going to Samezuka Academy. Rin's there!"

"The swimming powerhouse?"

"You should come and see him again!" I shook my head at the offer.

"No no, I'm good. You three go. He was more your friend than he was mine. He probably doesn't even remember my name." I laughed as I scratched the back of my neck.

* * *

"So he didn't want to come?" My mom asked me as she sat down at the kitchen table.

"Something came up." I answered.

"We haven't seen Haruka-san in so long!" Kaiya, my younger sister, complained.

"When is he going to come over?" Kaito, Kaiya's twin brother, asked. I shrugged my shoulders.

"I don't know. I'll ask him again tomorrow, okay?" The nine year-old pair beamed with happiness.

"Ya! I hope he comes!" Kaiya exclaimed.

"I hope so too." Kaito added.

"When are you two going to go on your first date?" I nearly choked on my rice at Kaiya's question.

"What?"

"That's so gross, Kaiya, why would you ask something like that?" Kaito asked his twin.

"It's not gross! Wouldn't you like an older brother?" She asked him.

"I would…"

"And you wouldn't mind having Haruka-san as your older brother, right?"

"I guess not…"

"So Onee-san and Haruka-san should get married!" I almost spit out my water from Kaiya's statement.

"What?" I exclaimed at my younger sibling.

"Who's talking about marriage?" I heard my father's voice as he entered the room. I looked up at him with a scared face. I was terrified at what he was about to do at the idea of marriage.

"Kei Mizuko."

"Yes?"

"You will not be getting married anytime soon! You're still too young, my precious little angel!" He cried as he held onto me and rubbed his cheek up against mine. I sighed out of frustration by his actions while my mother and two siblings laughed at his antics.

"I'm not getting married anytime soon!" I yelled. He let go of me and stood up straight. He pushed the glasses that rested on his nose slightly upwards.

"Good, but…when you do get married…I wouldn't mind it being Haruka!" I groaned out of frustration at my family.

"Mom! Aren't you going to stop them?" She just laughed at my predicament and waved her hand at me.

"You can deal with this." I groaned again as I slammed my hand on my forehead.

"I can't even win at home."

* * *

**So...do we like it? Yes? Well leave me a review or send me a PM! :)**

**-xoxo JaminJazzi**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Haru!" I yelled his name as I ran down his hallway and slammed open the bathroom door. I was surprised to see Nagisa and Makoto standing there. "Huh? What's going on here?"

"We're starting up a swimming club!" Nagisa exclaimed.

"Swimming club?"

"Haru-chan said we can do it! Isn't this great news, Kei-chan?" He asked me.

"Ya…of course. Good for you guys!" I smiled at him. "You sure about this, Haru?" I looked passed Nagisa.

"Ya. Let them do whatever they want." He mumbled.

"Oh! And we have someone else here!" Nagisa popped his head in my view once again.

"Huh? Who?" Nagisa grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the living room. Sitting down at the table was a red haired girl. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but she allowed her bangs to roam free.

"Who're you?" I asked.

"Matsuoka Gou." She introduced herself.

"Matsuoka…Rin's younger sister?" I asked.

"You know my brother?"

"Yup, just because I didn't swim with him doesn't mean that I didn't know him. I'm kind of stuck with Nagisa, Makoto and Haru anyways." I sighed.

"You were always in the stands, right? Cheering for them." Her eyes squinted in my direction as she began to remember where she saw me before. I nodded my head as I remembered being their personal cheerleader.

"That's right. I'm pretty sure I was the loudest one there." I laughed as I sat down beside her.

"You still are the loudest one in the room." Haru commented as he walked into the room with a towel on his hair with Makoto.

"That isn't a bad thing, you know? One of us needs to be loud to make up for someone who doesn't even talk." I retorted. Haru just grunted at me as he continued to dry his hair.

"Are you sure about this? You're expected to join." Makoto questioned his best friend.

"I know." Haru said.

"I think he only wants to join because he'll be able to swim, to be honest." I said. I looked over to see Gou covering her eyes with her hands. "Gou? Is something wrong?" As she turned her head to face Haru I saw her bring her hands down as her mouth gaped open and her eyes began to sparkle.

"Oh ya! Haru-chan wasn't with us the other day! This is Rin-chan's sister." Nagisa introduced Gou to Haru.

"H-Hello. It's been a long time."

"Matsuoka. Kou." He remembered her name.

"Yes! I'm sorry about what my brother did yesterday."

"Don't sweat it." Haru walked away from us and towards the kitchen. He tied his apron on and stood in front of the stove.

"Oh, if you're making tea, I have some squid to go with it." Makoto said.

"What? Wouldn't chocolate be better?" Nagisa asked.

"Chocolate? Wouldn't cookies be better?" I questioned.

"We'll compromise and have mackerel." Haru said.

"That's not a compromise." Nagisa complained. "I'll give you a hand!" Nagisa got up from his spot and stood beside Haru.

"If you're complaining about the option, why are you helping him make it?" I asked.

"Because I'm a helpful person, Kei-chan!" Nagisa beamed towards me.

"You're definitely something, Nagisa." I sighed as I leaned back on my hands.

"Isn't this…"I looked at where Gou was looking and saw the familiar blue trophy with a red ribbon tied on the top of it.

"Ah, right. That's the trophy the four of us won as kids. Rin told us that he no longer needed it." Gou reached for the group photo of the four boys and examined it.

"Everyone's smiling."

"Actually, Haru's the sole exception in this photo." Makoto said.

"Haru rarely smiles." I added.

"Haru-chan is always smiling on the inside." Nagisa stated as he came towards us with a tray filled with cups of tea.

"You make him sound like a bad person." Gou laughed.

"He's not a bad person. He's just a different person." I explained.

"So is this the first time Rin's come back to Japan since he's left?" Makoto asked Gou.

"Huh? He came back every year for New Year's." Gou gave us a quizzical look as she explained.

"Really? And he never told us?" Nagisa wondered. "That's mean."

"Every year?" I questioned. "But why wouldn't he tell you guys?" I asked more to myself than the others. "Haru, do you know why…Haru." I realized that his shoulders had slumped slightly as he cooked the mackerel. I stood up from my spot and walked over to him. "Let me help you."

"No."

"Huh? I'm trying to be helpful!" I told him.

"You don't even want mackerel."

"Don't be so stubborn, will you? Just let me help." I nudged him with my elbow. He glanced at me before continuing to cook his mackerel. I began to laugh.

"What're you laughing at?"

"You, silly! Don't be so serious all the time, now you give me that and I'll let you get started on the rice." I pushed his hands away from the pan, so I could grab a hold of it and took the spatula from him. He looked at me with a confused look. "Go on. That rice won't make itself, you know?" He turned around and went towards the cupboard, but I looked back at him because I almost thought that I heard a slight chuckle under his breath.

* * *

**So...what do we think? Is this going at a good pace for you guys? I didn't want it to be too fast to throw love at you guys...if that makes sense? Anyways, how about you PM me or leave me a review, huh? :D**

**-xoxo JaminJazzi**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Alright! Since everyone's on board, I picked up a new club application form." Nagisa showed Haru and Makoto the form.

"You move fast." Makoto commented.

"He's really excited, what do you expect?" I added.

"It's important to get the ball rolling. Let's see, the purpose of this club is to train our minds and bodies through swimming and improve the school experience." Nagisa said.

"That sounds incredibly cheesy." I added.

"Well, do you have something better?" Nagisa asked me.

"It's your club, write whatever you want." I said as I took another bite of my squid.

"And you know what you're doing." Makoto pointed out.

"There will be three members initially. Mako-chan, you can be the captain."

"Uh, shouldn't it be Haru? He's the fastest swimmer." Makoto questioned.

"This isn't about speed. Different people are better at different things." Nagisa pointed out.

"And Haru isn't the best with his words." I added.

"I don't think so either." Makoto mumbled.

"That means Mako-chan is the captain, and Haru-chan can be vice-captain."

"Hey, don't just volunteer me." Haru finally spoke up about the matter at hand.

"Now, now, now. Vice-captain is just an empty title with no actual responsibilities, so don't worry." Nagisa calmed him down.

"You just offended every vice-captain on this planet." Makoto said.

"You're lucky there's no vice-captain on this roof right now." I sighed.

"I'll be the treasurer, which means we just need a faculty advisor." Nagisa completely ignored what Makoto and myself had just said.

"Any ideas?" Makoto crossed his arms over his chest.

"I was thinking about asking Ama-chan."

"Miss Ama-chan?" Makoto questioned.

"I heard a crazy story from one of our classmates."

"Oh Nagisa, just because you heard a story doesn't mean it's true." I sighed.

"But Kei-chan! They swore to me that it was true!" I sighed and looked away from his puppy dog eyes.

"Well then, you better get down to the faculty lounge and ask if she'll do it."

* * *

"What do you think of this?" Nagisa asked as he pushed his colourful poster in our faces.

"It's…bright." I commented. His abstract artwork was bright and it was also painful to look at for a long period of time.

"That's a good thing!"

"Maybe something else would be better." I suggested.

"This." Haru held up his beautifully drawn poster.

"That's so beautiful!" The president of the art club squealed as he saw Haru's poster.

"You have to join the art club!" A art member yelled.

"What? No he can't!" Nagisa yelled.

"Yes he can! Come with us!" They began to pull at Haru's arm as Makoto and Nagisa pulled on his other arm.

"I think doing this in this art room was a bad idea." I sighed.

"Kei-chan! Give us a hand here!" Nagisa yelled over his shoulder. I walked over to the group of people and also grabbed hold of Haru's arm. The three of us began to pull our friend away from the vicious art club and once he was free he stumbled forward and fell on top of us. With me lying in-between Makoto and Nagisa, Haru's face was inches away from mine while his arms were stretched across both Makoto's and Nagisa's chests.

"Ah! Haru! Get off of me!" I yelled as I pushed him away from me and scrambled to my feet. I felt my cheeks begin to redden from how close he was to my face.

"I fell." He said plainly.

"Still! It's something called a personal bubble." I explained.

"A personal bubble?" Nagisa questioned before running towards me and wrapping me in his arms for a hug.

"Nagisa! What're you doing?" I asked him.

"Seeing if you really have this personal bubble." He said.

"But this is just a hug."

"Huh?"

"Hugs don't count."

"That doesn't make sense!" He let go of me as he stood in front of me.

"Yes it does."

"How can you have a personal bubble when hugs don't bother you?"

"I like hugs though."

"This still doesn't make sense."

"Yes it does!"

"No it doesn't."

"Ugh! Nagisa!"

"Ugh! Kei-chan!" Nagisa mocked me. Makoto just laughed as he watched Nagisa and I bicker over my personal bubble.

* * *

"Wow! It's all cleaned up!" Gou said as she looked around the newly cleaned pool. Haru, Makoto and Nagisa have been working diligently on cleaning the outdoor pool when they got their club approved.

"It looks good guys!" I called out to the three of them.

"Ah! Are you here to help, Gou-chan, Kei-chan?" Nagisa called out to the two of us.

"I told you to call me Kou!" Gou yelled over to Nagisa.

"Just embrace your name Gou. The fact that we have boy names shouldn't bother us, right?" I smiled at her as I placed my hand on her shoulder. She looked at me with a confused face as I looked towards the boys. "Gou brought you guys some snacks!"

"Really?" Nagisa yelled over to us.

"So you should be extra nice to her, Nagisa, or you won't get any of these delicious snacks." I teased him.

"What? That's not fair!" He complained.

"Well then, you better finish up what you're doing, so you can come over here and eat." I teased him again

"But Kei-chan!"

* * *

"Have you already joined a club, Kei-chan?" Nagisa asked me. We all sat on the edge of the pool as we ate our snacks.

"Yup."

"Really? You never said!" Makoto was surprised by the fact that I didn't mention it to the boys.

"I didn't feel the need to." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Which club?" Nagisa asked me.

"It's just a club."

"But which one?"

"It's a surprise."

"Why?"

"Just because, okay? But don't worry, I'll help you guys with the swim club whenever I can."

"That would be helpful since you know these three well and you swim, right?" Gou asked me.

"I know how to swim, but I don't do it competitively." I explained.

"She's always liked to just kind of float." Makoto added in.

"Oh ya! You sing instead, right?" Nagisa asked. I swallowed the lump that gathered in my throat.

"Yup."

"You can sing?" Gou asked.

"I used to. I don't sing anymore." I mumbled.

"But you're such a good singer!" Nagisa said. I looked passed Nagisa and towards Haru. He continued to munch away on his snack as he looked towards the waterless pool.

"Well things happen in life, Nagisa." I said solemnly as I too looked out towards the waterless pool.

* * *

**I wonder what happened to make Kei stop singing! Do you guys have any guesses?**

**Leave me a review or a PM! **

**-xoxo JaminJazzi**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"You're an idiot." I mumbled as I walked into the living room. Makoto and Nagisa had just left Haru's house to head home to see their families. Haru sat at the table silently as he stared off into space. They had just finished making the pool and filled it with water and Haru couldn't help himself to just jump into the cold water. "Here." I placed the bowl of chicken noodle soup in front of him. He gave it a quizzical look before looking at me.

"I didn't ask for this." He stated.

"And I don't care because you need it."

"Why?" I placed my hands on my hips.

"To feel better."

"But I wanted mackerel."

"You're having this instead." We stared at each other for a few seconds before Haru sighed and picked up the spoon beside the bowl. He took one spoonful of the chicken soup and I sat down across form him.

"Why are you still here?"

"To make sure you eat the whole thing. I know you, Haru. I know that you were going to throw that all away when I left and make yourself some mackerel, so instead of letting my hard work go to waste, I'm waiting for you to finish."

"I won't throw it out."

"Then eat up, so I can go home." Haru just stared at me with his trademark blank expression before continuing to eat his soup. I looked over to the bookshelf and saw a picture of Makoto, Haru and I. We were all five years old at the time. I had my arms wrapped around both boys' necks and pulled their faces closer to mine. Makoto and I had giant grins plastered onto our faces as we smiled towards the camera. Haru, on the other hand, just stared at the camera with the same blank expression that he had today.

"What're you looking at?" Haru grabbed my attention with his question. I looked back at him for a second to remember where I was.

"Nothing. Just that picture over there." I gestured towards the childhood photo.

"Hey, Kei."

"Yes?"

"What club did you join?" I felt my breath get caught in my throat as I looked at one of my best friends. I had been debating on whether to tell him or not of what club I had joined this year, but at this very moment I got cold feet.

"Why?"

"Just tell me."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because…"

"Because why?"

"I don't want to!" I yelled as I stood up in a hurry. Haru's eyes were slightly larger than before due to my outburst. Haru knew that I never got upset over situations or circumstances, but whenever I did he was always around me when it happened.

_"__I can't, Haru. I can't believe that happened." I sobbed into his chest. Haru stayed completely still as I continued to soak his shirt with my tears. "I don't know what to do anymore. I'm a failure, Haru. I'm a failure."_

"I'm sorry, Haru. I think I should go." I mumbled before I left the living room and walked out of his front door. Once I arrived home I quickly ran up my stairs and into the bedroom. My eyes scanned over the papers on my next before I picked them up and threw them away from me. The sheets of paper fluttered in the air before they gently settled onto the ground. With my face in my hands I sat on my bed and sighed.

I couldn't believe that I actually joined the club in the first place. I couldn't believe that I knew that I had to keep my cool in front of him. I couldn't believe that as the days continued to pass my heart grew fonder of him.

With a sigh I looked over to my corkboard and saw the familiar starfish handing from its push pin.

_"__Here." Haru handed me a orange starfish key chain. I stared at the star in my hand before looking at him. _

_"__What's this for?"_

_"__Makoto said we should get you one." Haru said plainly as he looked away from me. I felt my smile grow so large that it reached my eyes. _

_"__Thank you, Haru! I love it!"_

As I held the starfish in-between my index finger and thumb I smiled at the lovely memory. A small smile made its way onto my lips as a single tear escaped my eye and rolled down my cheek.

"I love it." I whispered to myself in my empty bedroom.

* * *

**So...what do we think? We got to find out some more stuff about Kei. **

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**-xoxo JaminJazzi**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Why do I have to come?" I complained as I sat on the train with Haru, Makoto, Nagisa, Gou and, their trial member, Rei.

"Because you're our cheerleader!" Nagisa proclaimed. I sighed at the thought of Nagisa handing me a cheerleading uniform to wear to their competitions. I shook my head to get the horrible image out of my thoughts.

"But this is just your practice."

"And we need motivation! So you have to come and motivate us!"

"And how am I supposed to do that?"

"I know! You could motivate both our team and the Samezuka team by wearing a bikini and whoever scores the best time gets a free kiss from you!"

"Absolutely not." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Ah! Why not?" Nagisa complained.

"Because I shouldn't have to resort to such a thing to motivate you boys to swim faster." I huffed as I looked away from Nagisa.

"You can be so mean sometimes." Nagisa stated.

"How am I being mean?" I looked at him with disbelief.

"Because it's not a bad thing to give us a reward if we swim well!"

"And your reward will be that you can swim better than you did before."

"That's not a reward!"

"Yes it is."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Ugh! Nagisa!"

"Ugh! Kei-chan!"

* * *

"Is that?"

"Rin-chan! We get to swim together again! Let's have fun today!" The all too familiar red head towered over Gou and Nagisa. His hands were deep inside his jacket pockets as he gave Nagisa a look that showed that he could care less about us.

"Together?" Rin scoffed as he turned away from Nagisa. "You guys are a waste of my time."

"What's his problem?" The navy blue haired Rei asked.

"Yeah, there's some history there." Makoto answered.

"I can't believe that's the same Rin." I muttered.

"He's definitely changed from the last time you saw him." Makoto said. I nodded my head in agreement as the captain of the Samezuka team stood in front of us with his swimming team behind him.

"I was thinking that you could practice with our first years today. Okay! Let's start with individual time trials. You there." He looked at Rei, who was still in his tracksuit. "Get in your swimsuit."

"Uh, I'm not…"

"Sorry! He forgot to bring his swimsuit." Nagisa apologized on Rei's behalf.

"What? Why is he here, then? You can use one of our spare swimsuits, so go get changed." The captain ordered. "Hey, Nitori!"

"Yes!" A silver haired boy ran up to Rei and pointed in the direction of the change rooms.

"Come with me."

"Uh, I'm not…"

"Hurry up." And before Rei could defend himself he was dragged away by Nitori and towards the change rooms.

"What a wonderful start to this practice." I mumbled.

"Well it should only get better, right?" Nagisa asked me. I shrugged my shoulders at his comment before walking off to the side of the pool. When Rei emerged from the change rooms he was wearing a tiny bathing suit that barely covered him. He crossed his arms over his chest in a huff.

"The deal was that I wouldn't swim." He groaned.

"Then why join a swim team if you're not going to swim?" I asked him.

"These time trials are just for practice, so it doesn't matter if you're slow." Nagisa tried to comfort his new teammate.

"Such beautiful bodies…everywhere! They're all so toned and all their biceps are perfect." Gou practically melted beside me as she looked at the swimmers in their bathing suits.

"You don't hangout with guys very often, do you?" I asked her as she composed herself.

"Ready. Set. Go!" Makoto was the first to go into the pool for his time trial. Nagisa walked over to the start of his lane and got ready for Makoto to return, so he could dive into the water. "Ready." The whistle blew and Nagisa jumped right into the water. "Next swimmer, get ready." Makoto walked over to us and looked at the nervous Rei.

"You're up next, Ryugazaki-kun." He said.

"I told you, I'm not-"

"Hey, next swimmer! Move to the starting block!" The coach called on Rei and I noticed that he began to look frazzled. I drew up a conclusion that lead to him just being nervous of being slow in front of everyone. I gave him a pat on the back and smiled up at him.

"You'll be just fine. Just take a deep breath before you dive in and then just let the water do all the work for you, okay?" He swallowed the lump in his throat before giving me a chaste nod and walking towards the starting block. We watched as he stood on the starting block and took his ready position.

"He has a beautiful form." Makoto commented.

"I hope he's good." I added. When the whistle blew we all watched aa the trial member dove off of the starting block and belly flopped into the water.

"What?" We all yelled as we saw him sink deeper and deeper into the pool.

"He hasn't come back up…"We all stared at the pool, but there was no sign of the new member resurfacing.

"Oh no…he can't be…he's drowning!" As I took a step forward to run into the pool and jump in to rescue the trial member, Haru had already zoomed past me and dove right in.

"Is he okay?" They coach ran over to us as Nagisa also dove in to help Haru retrieve Rei. When the two brought him back up and he gasped for air the rest of us let out a sigh of relief.

"He's okay." I said. I went over to the side of the pool and waited for Haru and Nagisa to bring him over. "Take my hand." I offered him my hand and he took it. As I pulled him up, Nagisa and Haru pushed him out of the pool. "Come over here." Once I sat him down up against the wall Gou handed me a towel to give to Rei. He brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. I placed the towel over his wet hair and kneeled in front of him. The other members of the Iwatobi Swim Club gathered around us, out of worry for their new teammate.

"So, Rei-chan…" Nagisa started.

"You can't swim?" I asked.

"Yeah…Are you saying it's my fault? I told them I wasn't going to swim!" He yelled at me.

"Of course not, but you should have said something earlier. That was really dangerous." I softly placed my hand on his knee. "You scared us." He looked at me with a surprised look – almost as if he couldn't believe that we worried about his well-being.

"I wasn't going to admit that I can't swim. That would go against my sense of beauty." He said.

"Rei-chan…"

"I'll clear things up with Samezuka. Sorry about forcing you into this situation." Makoto said. Makoto turned his head and we saw Haru stand up on the starting block, getting ready to dive in. "Oh, it's Haru's turn." Makoto and the other stood up to watch Haru enter the water.

"Do you want to sea something truly beautiful?" I asked Rei. I nodded my head towards Haru and I could tell that Rei couldn't help, but look at Haru as well. As he dove into the water I could Rei begin to let out surprised gasps beside me. He stood up and stepped forward to get a better look.

"I told you, Haru-chan is an amazing swimmer." Nagisa smiled up at Rei.

"He's one of a kind." I added.

* * *

**I HAVE NEWS! NEWS! RIGHT HERE! OMG! So...I just finished writing this story last night and it's 16 chapters! :O Also, I am planning a sequel for this story to go with the second season of the show...ALSO, I have started writing a Rin story too! A fabulous idea popped into my head last night and I've already written a few chapters...I'll probably post that up after this story is finished or maybe later on...who knows! That's all the news! Exciting, right?**

**Please Review and PM me! :D**

**-xoxo JaminJazzi**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"How's the teaching coming along?" I asked Gou as I stood beside her. She made a slight squeal as she noticed my presence before answering my question,

"He's…doing…okay." She tried to find the words to describe Rei's swimming lesson.

"Would it be okay if I took a dip or do you guys want to use the whole thing?" I asked her.

"Of course you can go in! You're like an honorary member!" She smiled at me. I smiled back as I dropped my bag and took off my shirt and skirt.

"I had a feeling you would say that." Even though a bikini isn't the best bathing suit to wear during a swimming lesson, it was the only one I had since I only swam for leisurely purposes. I slid into the pool and let the cold water engulf my entire being.

It had been so long since I was able to swim, so I stayed under the water for a while longer. I felt my hair float behind me as I opened up my eyes and saw Haru at the other end of the pool. I waved towards him, but he just looked at me before going up to get some air. I mentally sighed as I too went up to spill air into my lungs.

"This feels so nice!" I exclaimed as I lied on my back and floated in the pool. "Hey, Rei!" The blue haired, goggle wearing boy looked over to me with a confused look. "Can I give it a shot at teaching you?"

"Go for it Kei-chan!" Nagisa cheered form the side of the pool and without Rei's answer I dove under the water and swam underneath the ropes to reach his lane.

"Now how about we try a few things, huh?" I suggested when I arrived in front of him and he jumped back because I surprised him.

"You got here so fast…"

"Like I said – let the water do all the work for you." I smiled at him. "Now let's try some practice movements, okay?" I stood beside him and began to show him our to do a simple front crawl while standing.

"This is easy. I know all the perfect calculations for this." He pointed out.

"Alright then, how about you grab onto the side of the pool and practice kicking then." I showed him where to place his hands and allowed him to float on his front. I watched as he practiced kicking his legs and I didn't see anything wrong with it.

"I think you're going to be able to teach him how to swim, Kei-chan!" Nagisa chanted.

"Let's not get our hopes up yet, Nagisa. Now, Rei, we're going to do the same thing that you and Nagisa did on the first day, remember?"

"Of course I do! I'll be completely ready this time because my body is in top form!"

"I hope you're right." So as I held his hands and walked backwards he kicked his legs. I smiled at him and nodded my head. "I'm going to let go now, okay?"

"I can do this all by myself now." He said confidently, so I let go of his hands and stepped to the side and watched as he tried to swim, but he sank to the bottom of the pool even while moving his arms and legs. As he resurfaced and gasped for air I sighed out of defeat.

* * *

"Why did you guys drag me along with you?" I groaned as I sat beside Haru and Nagisa on the train. Gou sat on the other side of Haru while Rei and Makoto stood in front of us.

"Well, I did ask Miss Ama-chan, but she came up with a bunch of reasons why she couldn't come with us." Nagisa said with his arms behind his head.

"What's with the flurry of random excuses?" Rei wondered.

"Maybe she just doesn't want to go anywhere with you guys." I pointed out.

"How could you say that, Kei-chan! Of course she wants to help us!" Nagisa pouted as he shoved his face near mine.

"It's just a theory, Nagisa." I backed away from Nagisa slightly, but I was stopped when my back was up against Haru's arms.

"But Kei-chan!" I was stuck between a rock and a hard place at this point. I had the statue of Haru behind me and the puppy dog Nagisa in front of me and one of them had to give at some point.

"Nagisa! Back up!"

"Why?"

"It's called a personal bubble."

"But I thought we decided that you didn't have a personal bubble…"

"What? When was that decided?"

"In the art room because I hugged you and you were fine."

"Oh Nagisa, I wonder about your common sense sometimes."

* * *

"A rainbow?" I looked around the corner of the aisle I was in to see that Rei had come out in a purple swimsuit that covered his whole lower half, but it was also covered in rainbow stripes.

"I'm accounting for the fact that each other colour has a different psychological impact." He announced to Nagisa and Makoto with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Nope." The three looked over to me with a surprised look.

"But this is perfect and-"I stopped Rei in the middle of his sentence as I placed my hand up.

"No. Try on another one."

"I'm done changing." Haru appeared from the change room beside him and I slapped my hand on my forehead as I realized that he was wearing a duplicate of his normal swimsuit.

"It looks the damn same." I groaned.

"It's not. I like the way this one fits better."

"I'm not even going to deal with you." I said as I walked passed him and towards Gou, who was sitting on the bench in front of the change rooms. "Enjoying your free muscle show?" I winked at her. She sat up even straighter as a blush rose to her cheeks.

"They're biceps and triceps just look so much better with all the practicing they've been doing." I laughed and turned around towards the change room.

"I wish I saw what you see, Gou. Maybe it would make them seem a little more attractive and less idiotic."

"What do you have there?" She wondered as she saw what I was holding.

"Just some new bathing suits. Since I'm here I thought that I should spoil myself." I said as I walked into a change room to go try on the bikini in my hand. As I looked at myself in the mirror I was quite satisfied at how it looked, so I opened up the curtain and looked over to see that Rin and Haru were standing beside each other. "Haru! Rin!" I waved to them as I walked over to their change rooms.

"Kei." Haru greeted me.

"Kei?" I smiled up at the surprised Rin and waved.

"It's been a while, huh, Rin?" He let out a grunt as he looked away from me.

"So you're still hanging out with these guys, huh?" He asked.

"Of course I am! When you got back you should've came and found us. The three of us missed you while you were away in Australia, but I must say…I did miss your cocky smile you always gave everyone at the swimming tournaments." Rin was a little taken aback with my statement, but quickly composed himself and looked away from me. I felt something get pushed against my chest and I looked down to see that it was Haru's grey zip-up hoodie. "Haru…"

"Go put some clothes on." I looked up at him and waited for him to look at me, but he just held his gaze with Rin.

"It was nice to see you again, Rin. I hope we can catch up soon." I said before I turned around and walked back to the change room with Haru's sweater.

* * *

"Kei! It's dinner time!" My mother yelled from down the stairs.

"Coming!" I yelled back. I continued to look over the papers in front of me as I rearranged the sheets and assigned lines based off of my knowledge of the other members of the team. "I said that I was coming." I called when my bedroom door opened, but when no one replied I looked over to see Haru standing there. "H-Haru?"

"It's dinner time."

"What're you doing here?"

"Having dinner." He answered my very simple question. I mentally slapped myself for asking such a naïve question. "What's that?" I scrambled for the papers all over my desk and tried to hide them in my drawer.

"It's nothing. Just homework." But when I looked over at him I saw that he had picked up a piece of paper that managed to slip away from me.

"Music?" I sighed in defeat and sat down on my chair.

"I joined the choir." I mumbled. I refused to look at Haru, so I stared at the other music sheets on my desk instead.

"Good." I looked at him with a surprised face.

"Huh?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"B-Because…I don't know. I was kind of embarrassed of telling you after what happened last time,"

* * *

_"__I choked Haru! It was my biggest solo performance and I couldn't even remember my words!" As I pushed my face deeper and deeper into his chest I allowed more of my tears to fall down my face as my brain kept reliving the same nightmare over and over again. Haru didn't say anything though, but he did awkwardly wrap his arms around me. "I'm sorry Haru. You have a failure of a best friend. I'm sorry. I can't do anything right."_

* * *

"and I didn't want to tell you just to have that happen again." My fingers wrapped themselves on the end of my shirt as I looked down at my knuckles. "I just wanted to make you and Makoto proud of me." I looked up to Haru's ocean blue eyes when he placed his hand on my shoulder. I searched his eyes for any kind of emotion and I was happy that I found it, but I was also sad. His eyes looked slightly pained as she stared into mine and they also looked worried. He almost looked like he was pleading with me.

"We are proud of you." He softly said.

"But it's different for me. You and Makoto swim together and share those memories and I never wanted to swim competitively. I just wanted to sing and have you guys sit in the audience and cheer for me."

"Kei…"

"I'm always so proud of you two and Nagisa and Rei now too because you all work so hard, Haru. I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to let you guys down again."

"You didn't let us down."

"Haru…"

"You have always made us proud." He always said such simple words, but they always held his whole heart in them. My hand reached up to my shoulder and I placed it on top if his. The feeling of his soft skin on mine made my heart race and, at that moment, I swear I could've told him how I've always felt, but I knew better. I always knew better.

"Haruka! You better not be spoiling my innocent flower!" I heart my father's voice yell as he stood at my door. Haru stood up straight out of surprise and I slammed my hand on my forehead.

"Dad!"

* * *

**So...what do we think of this chapter?! I'm not gonna lie...this is one of my favourites throughout the whole thing! So did you guys like it? **

**Leave me me a review and a PM!**

**-xoxoJaminJazzi**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Why am I always dragged along?" I sighed as slumped beside Haru on the stone steps in our neighbourhood. We waited patiently for Makoto to come out of his house and when he did he smiled up at the two of us.

"Morning, Haru, Kei."

"Morning Makoto!" I waved as I stood up and Haru just stood up silently beside me. I bounded down the stairs to meet up with the third member of our trio.

"I'm surprised that you actually came, Kei." Makoto commented as we walked down the rest of the stone stairs.

"I only came because I know Nagisa wasn't lying about that threat."

* * *

_"__Kei-chan you have to go!" Nagisa gave me his trademark puppy dog look. I felt a very familiar vein begin to show itself on my forehead at Nagisa's constant pestering. _

_"__I'm not a part of the swim team, so I don't need to go on this stupid course." I turned my head away from him. _

_"__But you are our personal cheerleader!"_

_"__I did not sign up for that position!" I yelled. He leaned back and sighed, but I had the strangest feeling that he wasn't done yet. _

_"__Well that's fine, you don't have to go."_

_"__Really?"_

_"__But then you have to wear a personal Iwatobi Swim Club cheerleader uniform for prefecturals!" _

_"__What?"_

_"__But if you don't want to wear that then you're going to have to come with us on our trip."_

* * *

"Well you two can enjoy the lodge, but I'm going to go into the ocean for a bit." I announced to Gou and Miss Ama-chan about my departure from our lodge room.

"Okay, but be safe!" Miss Ama-chan warned me.

"I always am! I might as well treat this as a mini vacation." I walked out of the lodge and towards the ocean. The ocean was one of the many things I loved about summertime. There was something inviting about the smell of the salt filled ocean in front of me, so I quickly took off my crop top and shorts and went straight into the relaxing water.

I lied on my back and stared up at the beautiful light blue sky filled with cotton candy shaped clouds. The only sounds around me were the ocean waves crashing into the sand and nearby rocks, the odd seagull calling its partner, and the light chatter from the townsfolk.

* * *

_"__You didn't let us down."_

_"__Haru…"_

_"__You have always made us proud."_

* * *

I shook my head from the memory of last night before diving into the ocean water. As I swam carelessly into the sea I tried to forget about last night and the feelings that had built up inside of me. There was no need for those feelings to surface. He has always been so distant and preoccupied with his swimming that nothing else has crossed his mind. There was no need to put that kind of pressure on him.

As I came up for air I could see four splashes in the distance heading towards the middle island. I smiled to myself as I thought of the four boys working together to accomplish their goals.

"Makoto…"My smile faltered as I thought of that unfortunate day for one of my closest friends.

* * *

_My little hand squeezed Makoto's as the line of fishermen continued to pass us. One could easily tell that they didn't find any survivors on their journey again by the looks on their faces. I could feel Makoto's presence beside me weaken as he watched the men pass by, but when I felt his knees give way, Haru and I kept him standing. _

_"__We've got you, Makoto." I whispered as Haru and I continued to support our friend. _

* * *

After my swim we all gathered on the beach to have dinner. It consisted of mackerel and pizza and I couldn't hide the disappointment on my face as I stared at the plates on the table.

"I was hoping for more choices than this." I sighed as I looked at the mackerel.

"You should be happy that we have mackerel." Haru commented.

"How? You always have mackerel! Why do you think I never eat at your house?" I questioned his daily meal. As he continued to stuff his face with his favourite fish I decide that I'd just a regular slice of pizza before going off to buy myself a snack.

* * *

As I sat on the bench with my Popsicle in my mouth I felt at ease. I continued enjoy the delicious sugary snack when someone sat down beside me. I looked beside me and saw Haru sitting there with his famous nonchalant look.

"Haru? What are you doing here?" As I tried to figure out why he was sitting beside me one plausible reason popped into my head.

"Kei…"

"Look, Haru. If this is about last night then…"As I paused he turned his head to look me in the eye. "I would appreciate it if you didn't tell the others. I still want to keep this a secret."

"But, Kei-"

"Please, Haru." As we stared at each other I felt my heart begin to race again. All I had to do was move just a little closer and then everything in my head would come flying out, but as fast as the idea crossed my mind Haru sighed and looked away from me. He stood up form the bench and pushed his hands into his pockets.

"God, you're troublesome." He muttered. I was a little surprised by what he said, but I only looked at the back of his head and smiled.

"That's why you keep me around." I stood up and swallowed my pride as I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him from behind. I could feel Haru stiffen from my touch, but I ignored him as I said, "Thank you Haru, for everything."

* * *

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**-xoxo JaminJazzi**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Everyone, I printed out the pictures from our training camp." Gou announced as she stepped foot onto the schools roof.

"Let me see!" Nigasa said excitedly as he readied himself to see the photos.

"Yes, yes." Gou sat down in front of the Iwatobi Swim Club and myself and pulled the photos out of her bag. Everyone smiled and laughed at the photos that were now strewn across the concrete.

"Look, Haru-chan has a funny face in this one!" Nagisa pointed to a picture a picture of Haru and the rest of the swim club.

"And he's looking at the camera for once." Makoto smiled.

"Wow…it's a miracle!" I said excitedly as I too examined the photo in question.

"This…this is not beautiful. What is this picture? It is not beautiful at all!" Rei complained as he picked up a photo of himself. It showed his muscular back being cover by a turquoise floating device and his arms has yellow water wings on them in order to keep him safe.

"Um, preserving the moment?" Gou tried to make an explanation for developing the photo.

"It doesn't look that bad!" I tried to cheer him up as I patted his back, but he just sulked with the photo in hand since he deemed it as not being beautiful.

"Anyways, look at this one, there's something behind Mako-chan!" I looked at the photo Nagisa was holding and laughed as I saw a clay mask covered Miss Amakata behind Makoto.

"Oh no Nagisa…it's a ghost." I whispered into his ear.

"A ghost?"

"That's right, the ghost of Miss Ama-chan." I laughed at my own lame joke as Nagisa pouted in my direction.

"Don't scare me like that, Kei-chan!" He complained. "Huh, is that Samezuka?" I looked at the photo Haru was holding and noticed that it was a picture of Rin.

"I did some scouting our second day." Gou proudly said.

"Wow, that's our capable manager." Makoto commented. As Nagisa looked at a photo of Samezuka's captain he asked Gou a question,

"Did you use sex appeal?"

"No sex appeal involved!" Gou stated. "And I got plenty of data in addition to pictures. These are the swimmers who will be in the 100m and the 200m breastroke with Nagisa-kun. These are the swimmers in backstroke with Makoto-senpai. This is who will do butterfly with Rei-kun. I'll have their individual swimming styles and other information recorded in this secret book by tournament time." She held up her blue notebook in front of us to show where all her data has been collected. "Oh, and my brother is in-"

"The 100m freestyle." Haru finished her sentence.

"Yes. He didn't enter any other events, just so he could focus on his race with you." A soft breeze blew by and it picked up the picture of Rin, that Haru was holding, and blew it away from us.

"Well Gou, I will say…you definitely outdid yourself with all this hard work." I smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up.

"Thank you, Kei."

* * *

"Are you guys ready for the prefectural tomorrow?" I asked the four boys as we walked out of the front gates of our school.

"I think we're going to blow everyone out the water!" Nagisa pumped his fist in the air out of excitement for tomorrow.

"With my beautiful butterfly I'll pass prelims." Rei pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. I laughed and smiled at the two younger boys.

"Your confidence is definitely there, so let's hope that you guys do."

"Will you be coming, Kei?" Makoto asked me. I looked up at him and flashed him a smile.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world! I have to come support my four favourite boys." I winked at him.

"Are you coming with us to pray?" Rei asked me. I shook my head as I declined the offer.

"I would, but I have something else already planned."

"Like what?" Nagisa questioned.

"It's just something I have to do." I picked up my pace and began to jog away from them. "I'll see you guys tomorrow morning, okay? Remember to rest up!" I yelled over my shoulder as I ran away from them.

* * *

**Hmmmmm...I wonder what it could be...well you guys will find out tomorrow! Do you have any ideas on what Kei is going to do?**

**PM me or give me a review! **

**-xoxoJaminJazzi**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 **

_"__You're so good, Kei!" Makoto ran up to me with Haru walking behind him. Makoto grabbed my hands and shook them out of excitement as he praised my performance. _

_"__Really?" A smile came across my face as I confirmed that my friends enjoyed the show. _

_"__Of course! I didn't know you were that good, right, Haru?" The two of us looked over to the blue eyed Haru and noticed that he nodded his head in agreement. _

_"__You're good." My smile only grew bigger due to the fact that both of my friends thought that I did a good job. _

* * *

As I took a deep breath and closed my eyes I tried to calm down my heart. It was pounding so hard in my chest that I was sure it was going to puncture itself up against my ribs. I felt my palms begin to sweat slightly from my nerves.

* * *

_"__You guys are really going to come!" I squealed as I bounced in front of Makoto and Haru. _

_"__Of course we are! You always come to our meets, so we should come see you perform." Makoto laughed as he tried to calm me down. _

_"__It'll be different for you guys, huh? Being in the audience instead of being the ones that everyone's watching." _

_"__This is less effort." Haru said as he looked away from Makoto and I. I felt a smile form on my lips as I looked at him. _

_"__You deserve a break too, Haru."_

* * *

As I stood with my fellow members in front of the blackened crowd I held tried to zone out of where I was. As our instructor walked up to the stand in front and bowed to the audience I mentally prayed for all to go well.

* * *

_"__Stop crying." Haru said softly. With his arms awkwardly placed around me and my face buried into his shirt I shook my head. _

_"__I don't know how to, Haru. I'm just so upset." I sobbed. _

_"__You have to. Breathe." As I took in shaky breaths I began to calm myself down. After breathing for thirty seconds my tears had ceased and all I was left with was my shaking body. _

_"__I'm sorry, Haru." I whispered. _

_"__There'll be a next time." _

_"__No there won't be because I'm going to stop singing." I muttered as Haru's arms became slightly limp from my words out of shock. _

* * *

As I walked up to the microphone I bowed to the audience and took in a deep breath. After many years of sulking in my room because I refused to sing I finally got back up on this stage. I was on the very same stage that I had once choked on many years ago.

* * *

"You did amazing tonight, Kei." One of my fellow choir members praised me on my solo performance and all I could do was smile and thank her for her kind words.

"Kei-chan!" As I turned around I was surprised to see Nagisa, Makoto, Rei, Gou, and Haru all walking towards me.

"G-Guys? What're you doing here?" I asked the group in front of me.

"Haru found out when your first performance was." Nagisa explained.

"H-He told you guys?" I looked at Haru with a surprised face. Haru was never one to tell someone else's secret because he never felt the need to. He found it too troublesome.

"I was coming on my own, but they invited themselves along." He explained.

"So this is the club you joined? Why didn't you tell us?" Makoto questioned my secrecy.

"It's…it's a long story." I awkwardly rubbed my neck as I tried to avoid the question.

"Well, I'm happy we all came because this was the perfect way to relax right before the prefecturals tomorrow." Gou announced.

"I'm glad I could help!" A grin had made its way across my cheeks as I was told that I had contributed to their prefecturals in some form.

"Your singing was beautiful, Kei-san!" Rei swooned in front of me as he normally did with anything that was beautiful in his eyes.

"Thank you, Rei."

"We got you this, Kei-chan!" He handed me a light blue envelope. I looked at it sceptically as I peeled back the fold and pulled at a matching light blue card. On the top left corner it had a flower made out in gold ink. At the end of the bottom petal it curved and twirled its way to the one word in the middle of the front, 'Congratulations'. I opened up the card and saw that inside everyone had written in it.

_Kei-chan! I can't believe you didn't tell us about you singing again _ But it's okay…I forgive you because I know that you probably blew everyone away when you sang tonight! ^_^ - Nagisa _

_I hope that your singing is as beautiful as some of your bikini's…that didn't come out right…Anyways, I know that my first time hearing you sing with be beautiful in every single way! – Rei _

_How could you tell Haru and not me, Kei?! You're lucky that I love you like a sister and that I can't stay mad at you for too long. I know you'll knock everyone off their feet tonight! 3 – Makoto _

_Kei-san! I'm so excited to hear you sing for the very first time and I already know that you're going to be amazing! You're already amazing as it is because you push yourself! (And because you keep yourself in good physical condition…don't think I haven't noticed) – Gou _

_Kei, believe in yourself. Be free. – Haru _

I could feel myself hiding the happy tears that had formed in my eyes as I looked at the smiling faces in front of me; as I looked at my friends.

"Kei-chan, are you going to cry?" Nagisa asked me. I shook my head.

"Of course not! Why would I be crying?" I told him off before I settled down and smiled at all of them. "Thank you all so much for coming to my first performance. It means more to me than you'll ever know."

"Well it's about time we supported you." Makoto smiled.

"That's right! We have to support our cheerleader when she has her own performances." Nagisa added.

"Especially when her performances are beautiful." Rei said.

"Especially when she has a opposite gender name too." Gou added. I waited for Haru to say something, but he just stood to the side and nodded his head in agreement.

"Group hug everyone!" I announced and Makoto, Rei, Nagisa, and Gou tackled me in a hug. Nagisa reached over for Haru and threw him into the equation of happiness that we had made together. "God, I love you guys."

* * *

"Thank you again, Haru." Haru had walked me to my front door after we had said goodnight to Makoto. He just looked away from me with a bored expression and his hands in his pockets.

"I didn't do anything."

"You do more than you know." He looked at me with a confused look, but I just shook my head. "Ignore me, it's getting late and you need to rest up for tomorrow."

"Night." He turned around and took a few steps before I felt something take complete control of my body and send me on autopilot.

"Haru." He stopped in his tracks and turned to face me just as I walked up to him and went up on my tippy toes to place a chaste, but soft, peck on his cheek. "Goodnight." I left Haru standing there as I walked into my house and went into my bedroom, but as I laid on my bed I slapped my forehead with my head. "Ugh, Kei! You're such an idiot."

* * *

**Wasn't this such a cute chapter?! Please leave me a review or a PM! **

**-xoxoJaminJazzi**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"I'm so excited!" I squealed as I stood beside Gou in the stands, waiting for the boys to arrive.

"Me too! It's been so long since we've been to a swim meet." I nodded my head in agreement.

"Here they come!" I waved to the boys, so they knew where to walk. As Nagisa waved back they all walked towards us. When I saw Haru I took in a deep breath and calmed my nerves. Today was his day and I was not going to let my stupid feelings get in the way of that.

"Good morning!" The boys greeted us when they finally reached up.

"Good morning!"

"Okay, so here is the schedule for the first day. They're starting with freestyle in the morning. Haruka-senpai is in the fourth heat." Gou explained to the club members as I sat down on the bench.

"Wait. Haru-chan and Rin-chan are in neighbouring lanes." Nagisa pointed out.

"The heats were drawn based on qualifying times, right?" Makoto clarified.

"Yes." Gou answered.

"That means they're even." Nagisa said. I looked over at Haru and noticed that he just stared at the pool with a dazed look.

"The eight fastest times from each event advance to the final and qualify for regionals." Gou explained.

"It'll be fine. No need to get nervous. Just swim the way you usually do. The most important thing is to never give up. There's a quote from Napoleon. Five minutes make the difference between victory and defeat!" A familiar voice cooed in. We all looked to the side to see Miss Amakata standing there with her umbrella.

"Five minutes?"Nagisa asked.

"Miss Amakata, that's too long." Gou added.

"I'm pretty sure she used that in the wrong context." I commented. Makoto, Rei and Nagisa giggled though due to their faculty advisor.

"Well guys, do the best you can in each event. Let's make sure we can leave with no regrets." Makoto told his teammates.

"Yeah!"

* * *

"Haru-chan and Rin-chan are up next!" Nagisa pointed to the two familiar boys that were walking towards their starting blocks.

"Who are you cheering for, Matsouka-san?" Miss Amakata asked Gou.

"Both of them!" She replied as she clasped her hands together.

"Haru-chan! Fight!" Nagisa called over to his teammate. The whistle began to blow as the swimmers stepped onto their blocks. I clasped my hands together as I brought them up and pressed them up against my lips.

"I believe in you, Haru." I whispered as the whistle signalled and the swimmers entered the water.

"They're fast." Rei said with disbelief.

"Rin-chan's gotten faster. He's pulling ahead of Haru-chan!" Nagisa noticed.

"Haru's falling behind in the first leg?" Makoto was surprised at what was happening before our eyes and I was as well. I felt my teeth begin to bite into my thumb as I refused to take my hands away from my mouth.

"They're entering the turn!"

"Haru-chan's catching up!"

"Haru!"

"Haruka-senpai!"

"Haru!"

"Come on Haru!"

But it didn't matter how loud we cheered for Haru – when Rin and Haru pressed their hands up against the side of the pool the results were in and Rin had beaten Haru.

"Haru lost…" Makoto was in shock by the fact that the boy that he grew up with, the boy that never lost a race, had just been defeated.

"No." I whispered.

"No way." Nagisa muttered.

"This can't be happening." I whispered.

"And he didn't advance." Gou stated. I closed my eyes shut at the sight before me. I couldn't believe that Haru had lost and that he didn't advance to the final. I was in denial as I tried to convince myself that that wasn't Haru who just swam, but even when I opened up my eyes and I saw Haru with his pained expression I knew that this was all real. Haru had lost his race.

* * *

**EEEEEEEEKKKK! The story is almost done guys! But don't worry...I want to do a sequel, but I also want to know if you guys want a sequel! Also, I know there's a lot of you reading this, so how about you leave me a review or a PM? :D**

**-xoxoJaminJazzi**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"Kei-san? Are you okay?" I looked over to Gou and saw her look at me with soft features.

"I'm fine it's just…a shock." I looked away from her and back to my hands that were clasped on my lap.

"It's a shock for all of us, but Makoto-senpai is up next and we need to support him." I let out a huff of air before jumping to my feet and pushing myself up against the bar.

"You're right! Gou, we have to stay strong for them, okay?" I looked back at her to see that she was surprised at my sudden outburst, but as she nodded her head she jumped up to her feet and joined me up against the bar.

"I always liked your spirit, Kei! Now let's cheer Makoto on!" Coach Sasabe yelled as he too joined us up against the rail. Rei and Miss Amakata also joined us up against the rail as Nagisa went to go get Haru. We waited for the whistle to blow and once it did we erupted in cheers.

"Go, go, go, go, go, Makoto!"

"Go, go, go, go, go, Makoto!"

"Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim, Makoto!"

"Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim, Makto!"

"Not loud enough! You've got to shout form your belly! Especially you, Rei! Don't be shy!"

"Okay!"

"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, Makoto!"

"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, Makoto!"

"Go, go, go!"

"Go!"

"Go, go, Makoto!"

"And turn!"

"That's it!"

"Last spurt, last spurt, last spurt!"

"Last spurt, last spurt, last spurt!"

"Good job!" Even after Makoto's race we realized that he was extremely close qualifying to the finals, but he didn't make it either.

"Okay, I'm up next!" Nagisa pumped himself up.

"Yeah, you go get'em!" Coach Sasabe cheered.

"Do your best, Nagisa!" I cheered.

* * *

When the whistle blew for Nagisa we all readied our lungs and began to cheer for him as well.

"Go, go, go, go, go, Nagisa!"

"Go, go, go, go, go, Nagisa!"

"Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim, Nagisa!"

"Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim, Nagisa!"

"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, Nagisa!"

"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, Nagisa!"

"Go, go, go!"

"Go!"

"Go, go, Nagisa!"

"And turn!"

"That's it!"

"Last spurt, last spurt, last spurt!"

"Last spurt, last spurt, last spurt!"

"Good job!" Even after Nagisa's race we realized that he was extremely close qualifying to the finals, but he didn't make it either. When he reached us he srunched up his face in disgust.

"I couldn't do it!"

"You did well." Coach Sasabe patted his back.

"You made a huge push at the end." Gou said.

"You did your best, Nagisa and you should be proud of that." I encouraged him.

"I believe it's finally my turn." Rei announced as he stood up from his seat.

"Will you be okay, Rei-chan?" Nagisa asked.

"I've got this. Despite how I may look, I'm better in actual competition." He boasted as he pushed his glasses up his nose.

* * *

"Ah! They slid off!" We all noticed the fact that Rei's goggles had slid off of his face during his dive.

"You can't swim properly if you can't see." I pointed out.

"Go, go, go, go, go, Rei!"

"Go, go, go, go, go, Rei!"

"Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim, Rei!"

"Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim, Rei!"

"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, Rei!"

"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, Rei!"

"Go, go, go!"

"Go!"

"Go, go, Rei!"

"And turn!"

"That's it!"

"Last spurt, last spurt, last spurt!"

"Last spurt, last spurt, last spurt!"

"Good job!" Even after Rei's race we realized that, most likely due to his goggles slipping, he also didn't make it to the finals.

* * *

The cheering had subsided and the sun was beginning to set as we all stood out in the parking lot together.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't good enough." Rei apologized for losing his race.

"You shouldn't say that. You were able to swim a personal best. That's great." Miss Amakata pointed out his achievement.

"And this was your very first swim meet, so you should be proud of that. You did a great job." I placed my hand on his shoulder as I gave him a warm smile.

"You might have qualified if your goggles hadn't slipped off." Nagisa tried to cheer him up.

"That seems a little far-fetched." Rei said as he cocked up an eyebrow at the blonde.

"In any case, you all performed well. Excellent work." Miss Amakata praised the team of their hard efforts.

"There's a sense of accomplishment, right?" Nagisa asked.

"Yeah. Let's start preparing for the next tournament." Makoto looked on the bright side of the whole situation.

"Oh? Where's Nanase-kun?" Miss Amakata noticed that Haru was missing from our little group.

"It looks like he left without us." Nagisa smiled.

"What? Really?"

"Yeah, he wasn't feeling well." Makoto made up an excuse for his absence.

"Oh…I guess that can't be helped. Matsouka-san, can you take it from here?" As Gou said that she could Miss Amakata said her goodbyes and got into her pink car, so she could drive home.

"It's been a while since I got my blood pumping. Nice job! See ya!" Coach Sasabe took his teach right after on his pizza delivery bike.

"It would have been nice to go to regionals." Rei stated.

"Even after all our practicing I thought that at least one of us would make it, but it just goes to show how different reality is." Makoto added.

"I realized that swimming is more than just theories. I'm getting fired up." Rei said. A small smile played on my lips.

"You're a little late for that." Nagisa laughed.

"No, it's not too late." Gou said.

"Huh?" She turned to face the three boys so she could explain what she had already done.

"There's still the second day of the tournament tomorrow!"

"But the events we entered were all today." Nagisa pointed out the obvious.

"The second day is the individual medley and the relay…"And just like that it clicked in my head what Gou had done and instead of being someone that would've have been upset, I was relieved.

"I'm sorry! I signed you up for the medley relay in secret!"

"What?"

"I told Miss Amakata about it."

"So if we win the relay…"

"We can go to regionals."

"Well I think this is a great idea! You're always one step ahead, huh, Gou?" I smiled at her.

"Kei?" I turned to face to boys and placed my hands on my hips as I gave them a stern look.

"Grab this opportunity with both hands guys! This is a second chance and those don't come around very often!"

"That's crazy. This is too sudden. We didn't practice at all for the relay." Makoto pleaded.

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" Nagisa asked.

"Because it sounded like Haruka-senpai didn't want to be in the relay." Gou explained.

"Let's do it." Rei blurted out.

"Huh?"

"Kei-san is right, this is our final chance. We haven't practiced for the relay, but it's still worth a shot."

"I couldn't agree with you more, Rei." I smiled at him.

"Then you know what we have to do now, right?" Nagisa looked at all of us. We all stared at him with confused faces before he answered his own question. "We have to go tell Haru!"

* * *

_"__Haru-chan? Where are you right now?"_

_"__Please hurry home. We're all worried!"_

_"__I'm sorry, Haruka-senpai! I signed everybody up for the medley relay!"_

_"__Yeah, so let's swim together tomorrow, Haru-chan."_

_"__I'll be fine! I'll have the theory memorized by tomorrow!"_

_"__Rei-chan, that's a sure sign you'll fail!"_

"Makoto, Makoto. Kei, Kei." As I began to wake up I took a deep breath as my face scrunched up. As my eyes slowly opened I noticed that I had fallen asleep on Makoto's lap as the two of us waited for Haru to return home.

"Haru?" Makoto said in his groggy voice.

"Haru?" I moved my head to the side and saw Haru kneeling down in front of the two of us. I felt something close to an adrenalin rush push me up off of Makoto, so I could wrap my arms around Haru's neck and give him a hug. "Oh Haru, you're safe." I let go of him and took in his deep blue eyes and black hair.

"Of course." His eyes made contact with Makoto's as he said, "We have a relay to swim, right?"

* * *

**Okay guys...this story will be ending shortly, so I need you to tell me if you want a sequel to follow with the second season of the show! I really wanna do it, but I also want to know if you guys will be reading it! **

**Review and PM me!**

**-xoxo JaminJazzi**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"They won!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I almost fell over the railing out of excitement. Gou and I hugged each other as we jumped up and down out of excitement. As soon as we were able to meet up with the boys we bolted down the stairs and ran to the parking lot to see the four boys that deserved congratulations. "You did it!" I yelled as I ran over to them and wrapped my arms around Nagisa. The two of us laughed and jumped up and down.

"Thanks, Kei-chan!" Nagisa thanked me.

"For what?" I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"For coming to our practices and motivating us!"

"I insulted you guys more than anything though…"

"You were still there to support us when no one else was." Nagisa wrapped his arm around my shoulders and I laughed.

"Of course I'd support you guys and Gou, you've done an amazing job on these boys! You deserve the highest of praises." I gave her a giant grin and she matched mine.

"Thank you, Kei-san! But it's the boys that put in the work. I'm just the manager."

"A manager who always comes with new ideas and always tries to prepare us for everything." Makoto said.

"So it's settled, all five of you did a amazing job and we should celebrate with a group hug!" By the time I finished my sentence my five friends had already joined me in a group hug as we laughed together in harmony.

* * *

"But I kind of wanted to stay inside tonight with my siblings…"

"There's no time for that, Kei-chan! You're coming with us!" I let out a frustrated sigh as I placed my shoes on my feet. Nagisa wouldn't leave anyone be until he got what he wanted. He's a very persistent boy.

"Well it's been a long time since I've been to a festival." I was trying to convince myself that this idea wouldn't be such a bad one as Makoto, Nagisa and Haru made our way to the summer festival.

"So you can go have some fun while we go pray to the God of water!" Nagisa told me. I shrugged at the idea.

"That's not bad, I get to be away from you guys for a bit."

"But you love us, Kei-chan!" Nagisa tried to give me a hug, but I placed my hand on top of his face and kept him at arms length.

"Not today, Nagisa. Not today." I groaned. Nagisa pouted towards me before shrugging his shoulders and turning around and spotting Rei.

"Rei!"

"Alright, well I'll let you guys go pray and I'll meet up with you later, okay?"

"Do you have your cellphone on you?" Makoto asked me.

"Always! So just call me when you guys want to meet up, okay?"

"Okay!"

* * *

As I happily munched on my squid I turned around and bumped into a familiar chest. I looked up to see Haru looking at me with his trademark expression. When I noticed that it was just me and him and the others were nowhere to be found I began to feel my heart race again.

"H-Haru! You guys were supposed to call me when you were done."

"I lost them." He shrugged at the fact that he had lost his fellow teammates.

"Well maybe if you didn't wander off all the time you wouldn't lose them." I pointed out. He turned around with a word and began to walk away, so I jogged up to him and fell into line with him.

"Did you guys pray already?"

"Yes."

"Did you already have something to eat?"

"Yes."

"What about something to drink?"

"Kei…"

"Look, Haru." I stopped walking and closed my eyes for a second. As I took in a deep breath I opened them and looked at Haru. "I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

"For…the other night. I was completely out of line that night and I apologize for my actions." Haru just stared at me with a shocked face. I waited for him to say something, but as the silence grew thicker around us I couldn't handle it. I felt like I was being suffocated.

"It's fine."

"Huh?" Haru pushed his hands into his pockets.

"I don't know why you're apologizing. You didn't do anything wrong, so it's fine." It took me a second to realize what he had just said, but when it finally clicked in my brain I felt happiness begin at my toes and travel all its way up to the top of my head. I gave him a smile as he shrugged his shoulders and began to walk away. I ran up to him and walked beside him with a smile on my face.

"Haru-chan! Kei-chan!" We looked to our right to see Nagisa, Makoto, and Rei standing off to the side. I waved at them as the two of us made our way over to them.

"Hi guys!" I greeted them.

"What were you two doing together?" Nagisa asked.

"Walking." I answered.

"Did anything happen?"

"Huh?"

"Because you have a big smile right now."

"I'm always smiling! Am I not allowed to be happy?" I yelled at him.

"Now that's the Kei I know." I groaned at Nagisa as I took another bite of my squid.

"I hate you." I mumbled.

* * *

**Okay...now I'm not gonna update until I get at least ONE REVIEW! Come on guys...one review isn't that hard, right? I'll be waiting! :D**

**-xoxo JaminJazzi**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"Sorry I'm late!" I bent over and placed my hands on my knees as I tried to straighten my staggered breathing.

"You're not that late."

"Five minutes is a lot for me! You know that I'm very punctual." I exaggerated to Haru when I finally stood up straight to look at him. He just shook his head as he looked at me. "But thanks for coming with me. I really wanted to spend time with both you and Makoto, but the three of us have been so busy lately."

"Well should we get going then?" I nodded my head. As Haru and I walked towards the train station I felt myself smiling. Even though I couldn't have Makoto with us too I was still pleased to have Haru joining me for my trip to the mall.

"How is your training going anyways?" Ever since the Swim Club made it to Regionals for a medley relay they've been practicing extremely hard in order to be ready. I've been busy practicing with the choir for our upcoming performance, so I never had enough time to go support the boys in their practices.

"It's good." He said simply. "How's your practicing going?" I was happy that Haru appeared to be taking an interest in what I was doing.

"It's great! The reason why I was late was because we were deciding on who was going to sing what and the order of the line-up and everything, and Mr. Shiro decided to let some of us come up with a few ideas and he really liked mine, so I stayed back to talk to him about some of it." I rambled on about my passion and it was nice to have someone listen to me for a change. "Oh, sorry. I guess you didn't really want to know all of that, huh?" I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly as I smiled at Haru.

"It's fine. I'm glad that you're happy." As my cheeks began to warm up I quickly looked away from Haru, so he wouldn't notice.

* * *

"What do you think of this?" I pointed towards a slice of strawberry cheesecake. Haru bent down with me and inspected the cake before nodding his head.

"Looks good."

"Can we have this one, please?" I asked the lady behind the counter.

"Of course." As she took the slice of cake and placed it in a small white box Haru and I both reached for the box until our hands made minimal contact. My cheeks turned beet red while Haru didn't look fazed at all as he took the box. "I hope you and your boyfriend enjoy the cake."

"Huh? Oh, we're not together." I explained to the lady.

"Oh my, I'm sorry! I hope you two enjoy the cake anyways."

"Thank you." Haru thanked the lady before we left and continued on to our next stop.

* * *

I was standing beside Haru, looking at a few different blouses. I needed to decided which one to buy because it was going to be the one that I would be wearing for my next performance.

"I think this one would look better with my skirt though."

"I like the blue."

"But the red is a little more fun and this next performance is all about being fun."

"I like the blue.

"And this lace one is kind of cute."

"I like the blue.

"Okay Haru, you like the blue one. Let me have a proper look at it." As I inspected the material I realized that it was a nice colour. It wasn't a strong vibrant blue, but a soft calm baby blue that would compliment my skin tone. I was about to tell Haru that I was going to pick the blue one when a loud _buzzing_ sound went off in my ear and I jumped out of surprise. As I grabbed Haru's arm I looked around to see a group of middle school kids running around with horns and buzzers to scare people. "Stupid kids." I mumbled as I sighed. When I felt the soft material of Haru's shirt I realized that I was clinging onto his arm. I quickly let go and grabbed the blue shirt. "I think I'll pick this one."

I hurriedly walked over to the cash register, so Haru wouldn't see my face turn into a tomato.

* * *

I laughed as I sat across from Haru. "You got ice cream on your nose, silly." I picked up my napkin and wiped the delicious ice cream off of his nose.

"Thank you."

"Hey, Haru."

"Yes?"

"That card you all gave me during my performance…"

"What about it?"

"Well…um…where did you guys get it? I mean, they didn't know where you were going before, right?" As I took a lick of my ice cream Haru explained what had happened,

"Well, I bought the card when I found out about your performance and I was signing it before the show started. They all saw it and wanted to sign it too."

"Oh, okay. That makes sense."

"Are you going to be wearing a cheerleading uniform during the Regionals competition?" I was surprised by the sudden question that Haru threw at me.

"W-What made you think that I would?"

"Nagisa said that you were going to wear one." I couldn't hold made my frustrated sigh at the thought of Nagisa talking about me in a cheerleaders uniform.

"No. I would rather die than wear a cheerleading uniform to your competition." As Haru licked some of his ice cream I thought I noticed the tiniest pull at the side of his lips. "is that a smile I see?" Haru immediately looked away from me.

"No."

"I think it was." I leaned over the table slightly.

"You're seeing things." I placed my free hand underneath his chin and grabbed his cheeks. I turned his head, so he was looking at me, so I could see his bored expression once again.

"I know what I saw, Haru." He just let out a sigh as he closed his eyes.

"You're so troublesome, Kei."

* * *

"Hey, Haru."

"Yes?" I looked at him as we began to make our way home form the train station.

"Are you worried about the race? With Rin?" He stayed silent for a few seconds. I could tell that he was replaying his last race with him in his head over again.

"No."

"Really?"

"I'm not scared because I'm swimming with Makoto, Nagisa and Rei." I felt a small smile spread across my lips. Haru had really come a long way from the start of the Swim Club to now and I was happy that I could be apart of his development.

"And you have Gou, Miss Amakata and Coach Sasabe too." I pointed out the three other people who had helped the Swim Club get to where they are now.

"And you, Kei."

"Me?" I stopped in my tracks as I realized that he was praising me for something that I never did. I never helped them with their training or anything. I just showed up and cracked a few jokes.

"You've supported us too." Haru stood in front of me as I felt my hands tighten around the straps of my bags.

"But I haven't done anything."

"You've helped us more than you know, Kei." I felt this wave of emotion run over me as he said those words. I was ecstatic and happy, I felt appreciated and loved too. So when I dropped my bags and wrapped my arms and Haru I felt complete.

"Thank you, Haru." He didn't say anything. He just stood there and let me hug him. As he awkwardly wrapped his arms around me I smiled into his shirt. He was far from perfect and his lack of being able to show his emotions helped him keep away from people, but it also made him…Haru.

* * *

The next day I finally had time to go see the boys during their practice. I had run into Haru on his way, so the two of us walked there together. When we arrived at the pool Makoto, Nagisa, Rei and Gou were all huddled together.

"Hey guys!" I waved over to them to get their attention and when I did they all silently walked towards Haru and I. "What's wrong?"

"Now Kei and Haru…I understand that you thought that I would feel left out…" Makoto started to ramble on about something that didn't make any sense to me.

"Huh?"

"But I want to let you two know…I'm so happy for you guys!" He practically yelled in my face.

"What?"

"Why didn't you tell us? I thought we told each other everything!" Nagisa whined.

"I knew this would always happen. My theories from the first time I met you guys were right!" Rei pushed up his glasses as he talked about his theories and calculations.

"I'm so confused." I stated.

"We know, you don't need to hide it any longer." Gou said.

"Hide what?" I asked.

"That you two are dating!" Nagisa yelled in my face.

"What?" I screamed. I didn't know where they got such false information, but the source was clearly wrong.

"I saw you two at the mall together yesterday." Gou explained.

"Because I wanted to spend time with him and Makoto, but Makoto already made plans with his brother and sister." I stated.

"But what about these?" As Gou fished her phone out of her pocket she showed me the pictures of us on her phone. The first picture was of Haru and I bent over to look at the cakes together.

"We were picking a piece of cake…that doesn't mean we're dating."

"Well what about this?" The next picture was me clinging onto Haru's arm. I was grasping the sleeve of his shirt in my hand as I looked the other way.

"Some kids scared me and I freaked out."

"And this one?" It was a picture of Haru and I sitting across form each other while we were eating our ice cream. As I leaned over the table a giant grin was on my face as I laughed and Haru had the softest eyes looking at me and the tiniest smile on his lips, but it was a smile and someone had finally taken a picture of him smiling.

"We were…having fun." I almost whispered more to myself than anyone else.

"So you two aren't dating?" Makoto asked.

"No." Haru answered.

"Well then…this is awkward…" Nagisa placed his hand on the back of his neck as he laughed, but Haru just walked towards the pool.

"And that's how Haru leaves an awkward situation." I sighed as he began to do laps in the pool. "But I do have one thing to say."

"What is it?" Gou asked.

"I can't believe you followed us around the whole mall!" I yelled.

* * *

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**-xoxo JaminJazzi**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"Where could those idiots be?" I mutter to myself. We were at Regionals and the prelims for the medley relay were about to start and the Iwatobi Swim Club couldn't be found after they ran off to go see Rin after his race.

When I watched his struggle to get out of the pool I felt my heart being tugged. You could see how much he was struggling and pain and sorrow was just radiating off of him. No one would ever wish that upon someone else.

"Men's medley relay, heat one." The announcer's voice echoed in the stadium and my heart stopped for a second. What if they weren't here? What if they get disqualified? They worked so hard for nothing!

"Damn, it's already starting." Coach Sasabe groaned as we looked at the pool.

"They're here!" I followed Gou's eyes and saw Haru, Makoto, Nagisa and Rei run up to the registration man.

"They made it!" Coach Sasabe yelled.

"I'm going to kill them for cutting it so close." I mentioned as the second heat began to take their positions.

"Men's medley relay, heat two." The announcer said over the speakers. Makoto placed his goggled over his eyes and stepped into the pool.

"Makoto-senpai!" Gou yelled.

"Makoto!" I yelled and then silence filled the room as we waited for the whistle to blow and the start of the race.

"Set." The whistle blew right afterwards and the swimmers dove into the water.

"Go, go, go, go, go, Makoto!"

"Go, go, go, go, go, Makoto!"

"Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim, Makoto!"

"Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim, Makoto!"

"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, Makoto!"

"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, Makoto!"

"Go, go, go!"

"Go!"

"Go, go, Makoto!"

"And turn!"

"That's it!"

"Last spurt, last spurt, last spurt!"

"Last spurt, last spurt, last spurt!"

"Good job!"

"Nagisa!" Anyone could hear Makoto yell out the blonde's name as he took no time to dive into the water and start his leg of the race.

"Go, go, go, go, go, Nagisa!"

"Go, go, go, go, go, Nagisa!"

"Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim, Nagisa!"

"Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim, Nagisa!"

"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, Nagisa!"

"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, Nagisa!"

"Go, go, go!"

"Go!"

"Go, go, Nagisa!"

"And turn!"

"That's it!"

"Last spurt, last spurt, last spurt!"

"Last spurt, last spurt, last spurt!"

"Good job!"

"Rin-chan!" Nagisa yelled and Rin entered the water. Miss Amakata, Coach Sasabe, Gou and I practically fell out of our seats as we saw Rin.

"What's he doing?" I yelled.

"I told them to be free, but they took it too far." Coach Sasabe said as we all watched Rin swim down the lane.

"His entry angle was five degrees off, but I suppose it'll do." A familiar critical voice said beside us. As out heads turned we saw Rei watching the race from his seat beside Coach Sasabe.

"What're you doing here?" Coach Sasabe questioned.

"What the hell is going on, Rei?" I asked.

"I'll explain everything late." He simply stated. "We need to cheer them on now." With a nod of my head Gou started the chants for Rin.

"Go, go, go, go, go, Rin!"

"Go, go, go, go, go, Rin!"

"Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim, Rin!"

"Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim, Rin!"

"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, Rin!"

"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, Rin!"

"Go, go, go!"

"Go!"

"Go, go, Rin!"

"And turn!"

"That's it!"

"Last spurt, last spurt, last spurt!"

"Last spurt, last spurt, last spurt!"

"Good job!"

"Haru!" Rin yelled at the top of his lungs and that's when Haru dove straight into the water with ease. As I balled my hands into fists we started our chants for Haru.

"Go, go, go, go, go, Haru!"

"Go, go, go, go, go, Haru!"

"Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim, Haru!"

"Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim, Haru!"

"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, Haru!"

"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, Haru!"

"Go, go, go!"

"Go!"

"Go, go, Haru!"

"And turn!"

"That's it!"

"Last spurt, last spurt, last spurt!"

"Last spurt, last spurt, last spurt!"

"Haruka-senpai!" Gou and Rei yelled.

"Haru!" Coach Sasabe yelled.

"Haru-chan!" Nagisa yelled.

"Haru!" Makoto and Rin yelled.

"HARU!" I yelled.

* * *

As Haru climbed out of the pool and celebrated with his teammates I felt my heart begin to flutter. The four friends hugged and laughed with each other as they celebrated their race. I closed my eyes and shook my head before looking at them one more time and having a giant grin plastered onto my face.

"You idiots." I mumbled.

* * *

**So...the next chapter is the FINAL chapter! So before I post that up I would like at least 5 reviews! That's right...FIVE and tell me if you want a sequel, so I can get writing! **

**-xoxo JaminJazzi**


	16. Finale - Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

"It's nice that you guys are friends again." I said as I caught my breath after laughing so hard. Haru, Makoto, Nagisa, Rin, Rei, Gou and I were all out having dinner together. To celebrate the return of their friendship.

"I missed us being together." Nagisa said.

"And now we have Rei! Everything is perfect now!" Makoto rejoiced in the idea of Rei no longer feeling like an outsider.

"But I can't believe that you guys managed to stay close with Kei. I definitely thought that she was going to ditch you guys." Rin stated.

"What? What would make you think that?" I yelled. He just shrugged his shoulders as he looked at me with squinted eyes.

"Maybe because you can be pretty heartless sometimes." He smirked.

"What? I am not heartless!" I shrieked.

"You sure about, Kei?"

"Don't you start with me, Rin! I will gladly throw you out the nearest window." He crossed his arms over his chest as he smiled.

"Like you would even try."

"Why you little-"

"Now, now, Kei-chan! You know Rin-chan is just joking." Nagisa tried to calm me down. I sighed as I sat back down in my seat and sent Rin a glare.

"He knows how to push my buttons, that's for sure." I groaned.

"Oh Kei, you know you missed me!" He sang as he gave me another sly smile.

"I wish you never came back." I looked away from him and stuck my nose up in the air.

"What was it you said after the competition? Oh ya, 'Rin! I'm so glad you're back with us again! I missed you so much!'." He mocked me. I looked at him and sent daggers his way with my eyes.

"I lied."

"No you didn't!"

"How about we change the topic, huh? Before Kei actually flips this table!" Makoto jumped in-between Rin and me with an awkward laugh. Nagisa's boisterous laugh interrupted everything that was going on at the table.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"I just missed us all being together, that's all." I stared at him for a few seconds before a soft smile crossed my lips and I shook my head.

"Well I need to head to the little girls room." I excused myself from the table only to have Gou follow me. When we were out of earshot of the boys Gou spoke up.

"Kei-san?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry." I gave her a quizzical look as I stopped in front of the washroom door.

"What for?" I was thoroughly confused as to why she was apologizing to me.

"For jumping to conclusions about you and Haruka-senpai."

"You mean the whole dating thing?"

"Yes…" A laugh erupted from the pit of my stomach as I threw my head back.

"Why are you apologizing for that? That's no reason for a apology."

"But-"

"No buts. It's fine, Gou. Neither of us cared about it." I placed my hand on her shoulder and smiled. "So don't be sorry." She smiled at me as she nodded her head.

"Okay! But I will say, I do like the idea of you and Haruka-senpai together." I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pushed the door open to the washroom.

"I think you've been spending a little too much time with Nagisa."

* * *

"I wanted to give you this." I handed the neatly wrapped present to Haru. As we sat in his living room he looked at the package with a curious gaze. His slender fingers peeled back the wrapping paper to reveal the picture Gou took of Haru and I at the mall eating ice cream. Where I had my famous laughing grin on my face and Haru had his once-in-a-blue-moon soft smile.

"Thanks." He stood up from his spot and set the mahogany frame on the bookshelf. I stood up as well and clasped my hands behind my back. As I awkwardly stood, in this familiar living room, I felt like this was a brand new home.

"Haru."

"Yes?" He looked at me with his famous bored face.

"I never got to properly congratulate you on your race."

"But we didn't win."

"You did." We stared at each other for a few seconds as I saw him wonder what I was thinking. "You won your friendship back." It almost seemed as though it didn't hit him until that moment. The slight gasp he made and the way his eyes went just a millimetre wider.

"Thank you."

"Well, I guess I should get going." I turned around and took a few steps away from Haru.

_"__When are you two going to go on your first date?"_

I stopped in my tracks and clenched my hands into fists. I was going to do it because if I didn't nothing would ever happen. Haru was too quiet of a person to make any kind of move on any girl. I just needed to know if he felt the same way I did.

_"__Go on. That rice won't make itself, you know?" He turned around and went towards the cupboard, but I looked back at him because I almost thought that I heard a slight chuckle under his breath._

"Haru."

_As I held the starfish in-between my index finger and thumb I smiled at the lovely memory. A small smile made its way onto my lips as a single tear escaped my eye and rolled down my cheek._

_"__I love it." I whispered to myself in my empty bedroom._

"Yes?"

_"__I told you, Haru-chan is an amazing swimmer." Nagisa smiled up at Rei._

_"__He's one of a kind." I added._

I turned around to look him in the eye. I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Too many times had my heart beat so fast that it was going to break through my lung.

_I felt something get pushed against my chest and I looked down to see that it was Haru's grey zip-up hoodie. "Haru…"_

_"__Go put some clothes on." I looked up at him and waited for him to look at me, but he just held his gaze with Rin._

"There's something that I've been meaning to tell you, but I never knew how." I started.

_"__We are proud of you." He softly said._

_"__You have always made us proud." He always said such simple words, but they always held his whole heart in them._

"You're very special to me, Haru. You're one of my best friends and you've helped me through so much over the years."

_Kei, believe in yourself. Be free. – Haru_

"And I…God, I don't know how to say it. We're so opposite too, though. I'm loud and outgoing meanwhile you're calm and quiet."

_"__You do more than you know."_

_"__Haru." He stopped in his tracks and turned to face me just as I walked up to him and went up on my tippy toes to place a chaste, but soft, peck on his cheek. "Goodnight."_

"But it's almost like we balance each other out…well in my opinion anyways-"

"Where are you going with this, Kei?"

_"__For…the other night. I was completely out of line that night and I apologize for my actions."_

_"__It's fine."_

_"__Huh?"_

_"__I don't know why you're apologizing. You didn't do anything wrong, so it's fine."_

"I…I…"I was stuttering out my thoughts. Everything was coming out like a waterfall and I wasn't sure as to why it was coming out like that. I walked over to Haru and looked into his deep blue eyes. I could get lost in his eyes every time.

_"__And you, Kei."_

_"__Me?"_

I went up on my tippy toes and pressed my lips against his. He didn't make any kind of movement, so after the short and soft kiss I pulled back to look at his features. His eyes were larger than normal because he was surprised by my bold action.

_"__You've supported us too."_

_"__But I haven't done anything."_

_"__You've helped us more than you know, Kei."_

My heart started to pound in my chest. I realized that I had made a mistake and that I just ruined my friendship with my best friend. I quickly turned around and took a step away from him until I felt his larger hand grasp my wrist. He twirled me around and pushed his lips against mine.

_"__I knew this would always happen. My theories from the first time I met you guys were right!"_

I was surprised by his bold move, but when my brain registered what was happening I immediately pushed up on my toes and pressed my lips on his. The butterflies that I always felt in my stomach were swarming around in the pit of it. My head felt light and my thoughts seemed to mix together.

_"__Okay! But I will say, I do like the idea of you and Haruka-senpai together."_

When we broke the kiss to catch our breaths we stayed silent. I stared into his eyes that resembled the ocean and I couldn't help, but to smile at him. I gently placed my hand on his cheek and rubbed it with my thumb. No words needed to be exchanged. No thoughts. We knew exactly what this meant to the both of us. I turned around on my heel and began to walk away from him.

"Kei, where're you going?" I looked over my shoulder to him and gave him a smile.

"To the pool. I've always wanted to go swimming at night." I took a few more steps before I was stopped in my tracks.

"Wait." I looked back to him and saw him reach for his jacket. "I'll swim with you." I just smiled at him as he followed me out of the house and we walked, together, to the swimming pool.

* * *

**...And here is the end of this story...for now! Yes, I have decided to do a sequel, so you guys can review on how excited you are! **

**Also, I'm writing a Rin story and if you guys give me TEN REVIEWS...I repeat...TEN REVIEWS (so I have to reach 22 reviews) I will post up the first chapter for you guys to see what is in store for Rin and his lady friend! **

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